Italian K2 Conqueror Dies

Achille Compagnoni, a Conqueror of K2, Dies at 94 - Obituary (Obit) - NYTimes.com

The Italians’ moment of glory came when competition to conquer the Himalayas was fierce, said Agostino Da Polenza of the Everest-K2-CNR Committee, a mountain research group in Italy. Less than a year earlier, Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay had become the first to reach the summit of Everest.

The K2 ascent became a source of national pride; the climbers were decorated by both the Italian and the Pakistani governments.